


Perceptions

by This_is_calm_and_its_doctor



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Bisexual Spencer Reid, Case, kidnap, original nb character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26527309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_is_calm_and_its_doctor/pseuds/This_is_calm_and_its_doctor
Summary: The team rushes to save 24 year old Emory Williams, a nonbinary star witness in a case. Their kidnapping seems like a standard revenge for their imminent testimony, but things may not be what they seem.
Kudos: 31





	Perceptions

**_“Gender is the poetry each of us make out of the language we are taught.”_ **

**_\- Leslie Feinberg_ **

  
  


Everyone was gathered in the circle room, sitting at the table. Penelope was standing at the front, ready to present. She was dressed in her usual eccentric style. Today was a bright pink cardigan, pigtails with fluffy Pom poms in them, and several accessories. Rossi was dressed in his usual suit, his hair combed immaculately. Morgan’s muscles were bulging out of his purple button-up shirt, as usual. Prentiss was wearing a red blazer jacket and black slacks, and JJ was wearing a similar outfit, but in a grey tone. Spencer was in his usual button up, tie, and cardigan. Today’s cardigan was a nice red, and his tie was black, which matched the black converse he was wearing on his mismatched-sock-clad feet. Hotch was in his usual suit, his hair neatly slicked back, sipping a cup of coffee. He was always unreadable, but Spencer thought he might have been anxious about something. He was certainly tired. The bags under his eyes betrayed fitful sleep. 

“You can get started, Garcia,” Hotch said after a few moments. 

“Yes sir,” she replied, clicking a remote to turn on the screen in front of them. She sent something from her tablet to the others at the table, and handed Reid a paper copy. “Ok. We are dealing with the kidnapping,” she announced. “Of this individual right here.” She clicked the remote again, and a few pictures showed up on screen. Spencer opened the file to take a look. “This is 24 year old Emory Williams.”

“Is there only one victim?” Morgan asked. Garcia nodded.

“Usually we don’t get called in unless it’s serial,” Prentiss commented.

“Emory is the star witness in a case personal to the director. He asked me personally to look into it with my team. Emory is testifying against Logan Jackson, head of a huge crime ring,” Hotch explained. This explains why he looked so stressed earlier. “You can continue, Garcia.”

“Ok. She was taken from-“

“They,” Spencer cut her off, as he glanced up from the file.

“What?” 

“They were taken.”

“There’s another victim?” Hotch asked. Spencer shook his head.

“Emory is nonbinary,” he replied.

“What?”

“He’s right,” Prentiss said, scrolling through the file on the tablet in front of her. “Their birth sex is female, but on all of their official documents, they’re listed as X instead of male or female.” 

“So what does that mean exactly?” Rossi asked. 

“I’m not too familiar with the term either,” Hotch added. Prentiss opened her mouth to reply, but Spencer, without looking up, cut her off.

“Nonbinary is a gender identity that falls under the umbrella of transgender. Basically, transgender is when someone doesn’t identify with their birth sex. Some people identify as the gender opposite to their birth sex, and some people identify as either both or neither. These people are nonbinary,” he said matter-of-factly.

“This is a really rare thing, though,” Rossi stated, as though trying to confirm it.

“Not really,” Spencer replied. “1.4 million people in the United States alone are transgender, and of that 1.4 million, some studies have indicated up to 35% of them identify as being somewhere outside of the gender binary.” JJ looked at him incredulously.

“How the hell do you know all that?” She asked. Spencer shrugged.

“I like to read,” he answered. 

“Now that boy genius is done, can I finish my presentation now?” Garcia asked. “Ok. Emory was last seen leaving her- I mean their apartment at 9am two days ago. Their roommate said they were heading to work, but their boss reports they never showed up. No one has seen them since.” 

“And we think this is as a result of the case they’re testifying for?” Prentiss asked. Hotch shook his head.

“Police thought that at first, but now they aren’t sure. Guys, Emory needs to be in that court by Sunday, or Jackson walks,” he said. “Wheels up in 30.”

The jet engines were loud as they sat. Spencer was sitting by one of the windows, looking at the passing clouds. JJ was on his left, nursing a cup of coffee. Morgan was in front of him, and Prentiss was beside Morgan. Rossi was sitting on the armrest of one of the seats against the wall, and Hotch was standing in the aisle, leaning on a chair. Garcia’s face was on the laptop sitting on the table, as she looked through her webcam back at Quantico.

“Alright. What are our preliminary thoughts on the case?” Hotch asked.

“Well, it’s been a little over two days, and no ransom note,” JJ observed. “Which means this likely isn’t about money.” 

“Does Emory frequent bars or clubs?” Morgan asked. “They could have been scouted there and kidnapped for trafficking or something like that.” Garcia typed on her keyboard for a few moments.

“No,” she answered. “They were really responsible. The only bars they ever visited were a few gay bars, but it looks like they had been too busy with work for the last few weeks.” 

“I got to say Hotch, it’s looking more and more like they were taken as a result of the trial,” Prentiss said. 

“Garcia, do a background check on Emory. See if they have any close contacts so we can track them down,” Rossi said.

“Well, the police already talked to their mother and roommate,” Garcia said.

“What about their father?”

“Emory hasn’t talked to their father since they were nineteen. Apparently the relationship was always rocky before that, but they cut all ties about five years ago.”

“Why did they cut ties with him?”

“Well,” Garcia said, tapping away at her keyboard again. “It appears he was abusive to their mother after the two of them divorced. He was constantly taking Mrs. Williams to court, fighting for custody of Emory. Finally, Emory turned eighteen and the abuse stopped, and he started harassing them instead. Emory cut all ties to him and moved away, and supposedly he doesn’t know where they are now.”

“Could the father have finally figured out where they are and taken them?” Rossi asked.

“Unlikely,” Reid answered. “Emory’s dad wouldn’t just abduct them. With that amount of rage, he’d probably stalk them and then confront them publicly, maybe even with their mom present. From the sound of it, he’s a classic narcissist with sociopathic tendencies. I doubt he actually has much interest in Emory, and is really more interested in proving his superiority over their mother.” 

“Then what happened?” Prentiss asked. “People don’t just vanish.”

“Wait, guys, I’ve got something,” Garcia said excitedly.

“What is it Babygirl?” Morgan asked.

“Well, my beautiful piece of hunky chocolate, the police missed the fact that Emory had a boyfriend. They broke up about six weeks ago. His name is Adam Lambert. His last known address is from eight months ago, and it’s a P.O. Box in Ohio. He hasn’t been seen since Emory’s disappearance, either.”

“Good work Garcia,” Hotch said. “Run a background check on Adam, and let us know when you have something.”

“Garcia, out!” She said cheerfully, before pressing a button to end the call.

“Ok guys, when we land, I want JJ and Reid to go talk to Emory’s mother and roommate. They’re both at the station. Morgan, Prentiss, you guys go to Emory’s apartment and look at the crime scene. Rossi and I will get set up at the station, and then start trying to track down Adam Lambert.”

Spencer and JJ walked into the room and sat down on some arm chairs. Sitting accros from them, on a couch, was a woman in her mid-sixties. Her silvery hair was streaked with black, showing that it hadn’t lost all of it’s original colour yet. Unlike many parents might be when in her situation, she wasn’t crying. She looked more determined, maybe even angry.

“Hi, Mrs. Williams?” JJ asked. “I’m Agent Jareau, and this is Dr. Spencer Reid. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?” 

“It’s fine,” she replied. She almost sounded hostile. 

“Listen, Mrs. Williams, had Emory been acting differently recently?” Spencer asked. “Maybe they wer more erratic, or they thought someone was following them?” 

“No. She was fine,” Mrs. Williams said. JJ and Spencer shared a look.

“And we’re you aware of any recent romantic partners? Maybe someone new in the last six weeks?” JJ asked.

“She has a boyfriend named Adam Lambert,” she answered. 

“Mrs. Williams, Emory broke up with Adam six weeks ago,” Spencer said. 

“No she didn’t,” Mrs. Williams answered. “Adam told me the two of them had a fight, but he’s working everything out.” Spencer glanced at JJ again. “Why are you asking?” Mrs. Williams asked. 

“We’re just investigating every possibility,” JJ answered. 

“Adam didn’t take my daughter. She was taken because she’s testifying against that big mob ring. Adam wouldn’t do anything to hurt her!” Mrs. Williams protested.

“Of course, we just have to cover all of our bases. Now, we’re going to go talk to Emory’s roommate now. We’ll let you know if we have anymore questions, alright?” JJ asked calmly. Mrs. Williams didn’t seem convinced. Spencer and JJ left the room. 

“She keeps referring to Emory as ‘she’,” Spencer remarked quietly. 

“Yeah. And she seems convinced Adam wouldn’t hurt Emory.” They opened the door to a different office, where a twenty something woman was pacing nervously.

“Mckayla Roberts?” JJ asked. The girl nodded.

“Yes, that’s me. Is there any news?” She asked anxiously.

“Mckayla, my name is Agent Jennifer Jareau, and this is Dr. Spencer Reid. Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?” 

“Yeah, sure, go ahead.”

“Do you want to sit down?” 

“Oh! Yeah, ok.” Mckayla shook herself a little, before taking a seat on a chair. Spencer and JJ did the same. 

“So, was Emory seeing anyone new recently?” JJ asked. 

“You mean after they broke up with Adam?” Mckayla asked. “No. They were trying to take a break from dating.”

“Trying?” JJ prompted.

“Well, Adam was harassing them. He kept leaving notes and flowers in front of the door. He’d mail letters, make phone calls. He even showed up at Emory’s work one time,” she said.

“So, Adam was stalking Emory?” 

“Yeah. He was pissed off because they broke up with him.”

“Why did they break up?” Spencer asked.

“They had been dating for a year, and Emory hadn’t originally come out as nonbinary to him. They came out to him about two months ago. Anyways, it was their anniversary, and apparently Emory thanked him for accepting them, gender and all. Emory said that Adam replied by telling them that of course he would, because to him they’ll always be his skater girl or something. This obviously really triggered Emory. Adam couldn’t understand what was wrong, so Emory had to explain that they didn’t want to be perceived as female, even if someone was still using the correct pronouns. Adam gave the usual bullshit about not being able to change birth sex and chromosomes, and Emory told him that they were over, and not to come by the apartment anymore.”

“How did Adam react after that?” JJ asked.

“He got really mad. He started calling them ‘babygirl’ and ‘princess’, and telling them that no one would ever love them, and only he could love them. It was awful. He kept banging on the door and screaming so we had to call the cops.” Mckayla had tears in her eyes. “Do you think he took them?” She asked softly. 

“It’s a possibility,” JJ replied softly. 

“Well I hope you catch that son of a bitch!” Mckayla answered. 

Prentiss and Morgan had just returned from Emory’s apartment. 

“Emory was definitely scared of someone,” Morgan said. “They had three separate locks on the door.”

“They were being stalked by the ex-boyfriend, Adam Lambert,” JJ answered. “The mom denies Adam and Emory are broken up, and claims that Adam is a good guy. The roommate tells a wildly different story.”

“That fits with what we found,” Prentiss said. Suddenly, Morgan’s phone rang.

“Hey, Babygirl. You’re on speaker,” he said.

“Ok, so I ran that background check on Adam Lambert, and I got nothing. Like, too much nothing. So I dug a little deeper, and turns out Adam Lambert isn’t his real name. His real name is Adam Laurence, and he has a record,” Garcia said.

“What kind of charges?” Prentiss asked.

“Hold onto your socks, my lovelies, because this is a doozy. Assault, petty theft, harassment (both sexual and physical), stalking, and drunk and disorderly. He was also fired from his last job about two years ago, after several employees complained.”

“What were the complaints about?” Hotch asked.

“Give me a second,” Garcia said, typing furiously. “Got it. Apparently the company had two openly transgender people on staff, and Adam would regularly refer to them with incorrect pronouns, and…” Garcia stopped for a moment. “Deadname them?” She asked, confused.

“What’s deadname mean?” Rossi asked. 

“A deadname is the previous name of a person who has changed it. It’s most commonly used to refer to the name that transgender people are assigned at birth, but can be used for anyone who changes their name. Deadnaming someone is when you use their birth name instead of their new one. It’s incredibly damaging, because oftentimes deadnames are associated with trauma the individual has gone through in the past. Usually the extended trauma of dealing with their gender dysphoria,” Spencer answered.

“How do you know all of these things?” JJ asked incredulously. “I know you read, but this isn’t exactly your usual area of knowledge.” 

“I’m a member of the GSRM community, you tend to pick things up.”

“The what?”

“GSRM. Gender, Sexuality, Romantic, Minority. Also known as the LGBTQ+ community.”

“Wait, Spence, I didn’t realize you were a part of the LGBTQ+ community,” Emily said.

“I’m bisexual,” Spencer answered.

“Spencer, why didn’t you tell us?!” JJ asked, sounding almost a little hurt.

“I don’t really like the whole ‘coming out culture’. I prefer to tell people if it’s relevant. If I ever got a boyfriend, I would tell you. But I don’t really want it to be a big deal. I know you guys will support me no matter what.” There was silence for a few moments.

“Back to the case,” Hotch finally prompted.

“Right,” Prentiss said. “It’s looking more and more like Lambert took Emory. He’s probably trying to turn them into the perfect woman for him, because they rejected him.”

“I agree,” Morgan said. “It looks like he has an inflated ego, and very fragile pride. If he thought he was dating a woman all this time, and then he found out he wasn’t, that probably felt like it was compromising his masculinity.”

“When he was angry with Emory, he kept using female pet names and pronouns. He’s probably trying to project femininity onto them, because not only did they wound his pride by rejecting him, but they challenged his beliefs in terms of a gender binary. He’s likely convinced himself that Emory is trying to trick other people into thinking he’s gay,” Spencer added.

“So what are you saying?” Emily asked. “That Adam took Emory because he wants them to be a woman?”

“He wants them to be a woman that will submit to him,” Morgan answered. 

“Ok, but that doesn’t solve where he took them,” JJ replied.

“He would want to take them somewhere he feels he has control. Someplace he owns,” Hotch said. “He wants them to be in his territory.” 

“Garcia, I know Adam doesn’t have any property listed under his own name, but is there somewhere listed under a family member’s maybe?” Spencer asked. They could all hear Penelope typing quickly. 

“Got it. His father owned a farm house about three hours from here, and it was passed on to Adam when dad died. It’s really isolated, and it even has its own water supply.” 

“That’s it,” Hotch said. “That’s where he has them.”

When they pulled up to the house, it looked almost deserted. The SWAT team surrounded the place, looking for signs of movement. 

“I’m not seeing anything. Are we sure this is the right place?” Morgan asked. Hotch nodded.

“He’s in there.” Then they heard a scream.

“That’s Emory!” Prentiss confirmed.

“Alright. Move in!” Hotch ordered. The house was empty of most of its furniture. The floors were creaky, and there was no way Adam didn’t hear them coming. They found him in the basement, gun pressed to Emory’s head. Emory was wearing a short red dress and crudely applied makeup. They had bruises on their body, a handprint from a slap on their face.

“Adam Lambert, put the gun down, and let Emory go!” Hotch ordered.

“No!” Adam answered. “She’s mine. If you get any closer, I’ll kill her.”

“Adam, I don’t think you want to do that,” Morgan said, moving forward.

“Stay back!” Adam yelled. “I will shoot her!” 

“And if you shoot Emory, I will shoot you,” Morgan answered. “Put down the gun, and let them go.” Adam didn’t move. “Adam,” Morgan said. “Let them go.” Adam glanced around nervously, then shoved Emory to the side, pointing his gun at Morgan. He was dead before he could pull the trigger, Morgan’s gun smoking. Emory screamed, and Prentiss moved over to grab them and pull them away from the body. She wrapped an arm around their shoulders, leading them out of the room. Morgan looked down at Adam’s body with disgust. 

“I just can’t believe someone would do something like this to anyone,” JJ remarked.

Spencer leaned against the window of the jet, watching the clouds go by. JJ sat down beside him. 

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you,” she said. He looked over.

“What’s up?”

“Listen, I know you don’t want us to make a big deal about you being bisexual, but I just wanted to tell you that I love and care about you, and I’m glad you told us.” Spencer smiled.

“I don’t like to keep secrets,” he said. “But sometimes I just think it’s not a big deal, and I don’t want people to make it that way. It feels good to have told you guys though.” JJ wrapped an arm around his shoulders, squeezing him.

“We’re always here for you, Spence.”

  
  


**_“Some people are born in the mountains, while others are born by the sea. Some people are happy to live in the place they were born, while others must make a journey to reach the climate in which they can flourish and grow. Between the ocean and the mountains is a wild forest. That is where I want to make my home.”_ **

**_\- Maia Kobabe_ **

  
  
  



End file.
